Dr Strangelove Film Analysis

Following the soviets first successful detonation of a nuclear weapon in 1949 with Joe-1 (Khrushchev, 1989) the production of all types of bomb related films increased significantly. The possibility of nuclear war became an increasingly controversial issue when expressed in film and television. Throughout the period of 1950 to 1963 the films became increasingly complex. Nevertheless, this period remained overwhelmingly positive. Films expressed confidence in humanity’s ability to overcome the temptation to use nuclear weapons. During such uneasy times, ideology expressed in these films was not so much towards a liberal or conservative enlightenment but to explore the sociology and personal angst (Boyer,1988). Jerome F. Shapiro (2002, p.91, 141-147) states that six films stand out as seminal in the development of the atom bomb subcategory of cinema: Rocketship X-M(Neumann,1950), Unknown World(Morse,1951), The Story Of Mankind(Allen,1957),
It was not until Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Dr Strangelove: How I learnt to stop worrying and love the bomb’ was released in 1964 that a morbid representation of the potential sufferings was propelled into popular culture, ironically in the form of satire. The use of satire, or rather humour in the film is used to push the edge of believability (O’Connor, Jackson, Schlesinger, et al., 1979, p.226) .